


Six Year Old Dreams

by Never_Eat_Sour_Wheat



Series: Slice of Life Smile For Me [1]
Category: Smile For Me (Video Game)
Genre: Ballet, Dad Kamal, Flower Kid is mute and nb, Gen, Inspired by Art, dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 11:03:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19973008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Never_Eat_Sour_Wheat/pseuds/Never_Eat_Sour_Wheat
Summary: Kamal has wanted to do ballet since he was six, and now he may finally get the chance.





	Six Year Old Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a bunch of headcanons and projections based on art by @fern-sword on tumblr (linked below). A lot of this is based on my own experience with ballet and my old dance studio. Writing about dance is really hard since it's about movement and grace, and I'm hoping I did it justice.

When he was six his mom had dragged his father off to the ballet. They couldn’t find a babysitter so he had gone along. He complained the whole way, but only because his dad had. As soon as the theater had gone dark though, it was like there was a spell cast on him. He sat in the uncomfortable seat in total silence, completely mesmerized by the dancers on stage. It was Cinderella, and the whole thing fascinated him. He was young enough that he didn’t understand how they had done the costume change between her poor clothes and her beautiful ball outfit so quickly. His father fell asleep at some point and his mom was less than pleased with him, but Kamal didn’t let that ruin his love for the new thing he had discovered. He was totally enraptured through the whole thing and didn’t want it to end. 

He asked as many questions as possible on the way home. Why did they wear the funny shoes? How long had it taken them to learn how to do all that? Why was it mostly women? How strong did the men have to be to lift the women? Could he do it?

His mom was over the moon that he had enjoyed it, and wanted to sign him up for lessons as soon as possible, but his father was angry. His father called it girly, said some words that Kamal didn’t know, and refused to let his son do any dancing. His mom dropped it after a while, but she still took Kamal to the ballet at least once a year. The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, anything that would show at the local theater. And, it turns out, that was quite a lot. Even if they only went once a year, Kamal still began to learn just from watching.

He learned that the younger people like him didn’t have the fancy shoes, although he didn’t know why. He learned the different ways to hold his arms, although they were always slightly off. He did the turns and spins as best as he could, and for someone who had never had lessons, they weren’t half bad. He practiced his balance, he practiced endurance, he practiced anything he saw, and kept it all away from his father. His mom would catch him sometimes, but she would only smile and encourage him.

It didn’t last, of course. 

His father wanted him to become a dentist, and teeth had always been fascinating to him too. So, he went for it. He would still see the ballet with his mom when he came home for Christmas, but he had given up on the dream. He had a future in dentistry and a friend at medical school, so what was the point in arguing? 

Besides, with the direction his life went after that he didn’t really have time to think about ballet.

* * *

“What’s up kiddo?” Kamal asked, bending down to look at the flyer that Flower Kid was holding. They pointed at it excitedly, and he chuckled before taking it so he could stand again.

It was a flyer for a dance studio that was opening up in the next town over. They had a series of classes listed, including a child’s tap class that had been hastily circled in bright pink glitter pen. He raised his eyebrows but nodded slowly. His kid was interested in dance. Like father like kid then. “Sounds great! We’ll have to figure out how to get tap shoes, but I’m sure they’ll probably have them there.” Flower Kid tilted their head to the side questioningly. “You didn’t know? Tap dancers use special shoes with metal on the bottom. That’s what makes the sound.” They perked up and even jumped a little. Kamal laughed and reached down to ruffle their hair. 

It wasn’t until after they had been to bed that he picked up the flyer again. He checked the classes and his eyes lit up at what he saw. They were offering beginners classes for adults too. Including ballet. He had to grab a pillow to squeal into so he didn’t wake the kid up. It had been years since he’d even seen a ballet, but he had never forgotten his love for them.

And now? He had the chance to give it a shot.

* * *

The dance studio was odd. There was a large sitting area and a small office behind a sliding glass window just off it. Flower Kid was looking a little nervous and took his hand when they entered. He squeezed it, feeling a little nervous himself. He headed towards the little office and caught the glance of a couple women sitting in the waiting area. Probably either moms, or early arrivers for the beginners class, like him. He felt like shrinking in on himself. He knew dance, especially ballet, was a mostly women dominated area. Some of his father’s old words came back to haunt him, but he forced himself forward. 

“Hi! How can I help you?” The woman in the office asked, smiling at him. He returned it, and the giddiness of the whole situation hit him again.

“Hi, I’m looking to sign up for a class, and one for my kid here too.” He said. Flower Kid went up on their tiptoes to be seen over the desk and waved at the woman. She waved back and she was grinning. 

“Alright, what classes?” She asked, pulling out a pen and clipboard. 

“Beginners tap for them and beginners ballet for me.” He said, feeling slightly awkward. The woman did raise an eyebrow, but her grin only got bigger.

“Didn’t think we’d have any guys in our ballet classes. It’ll be good to have you in it though! Let’s get some tap shoes for the little sweetheart.” The woman said, smiling down at Flower Kid. She opened the door to the office, and gestured for them both to follow her back. Flower Kid let go of his hand and skipped into the office, him following at a slower pace. They had a whole room with supplies for various different types of dance. “What size shoe do you wear kiddo?” 

Kamal drifted in his own thoughts while Flower Kid got their tap shoes. He was actually doing this. It was thrilling! He was finally living out his dream from when he was six, even in a small way like this. He watched as the woman helped Flower Kid with the shoes, lacing them in the odd way they were meant to be. Flower Kid stood and made a face at the shoes, taking a couple steps in them. 

“What’s up kid?” He asked, leaning down. 

“Stiff.” They signed.

“Yeah, they will be until you break them in, just like any other shoe.” The woman replied. Kamal was pleasantly surprised that she understood Flower Kid’s signing. She seemed to notice and smiled at him. “Don’t worry, I’m their teacher, I’ll make sure they’re understood through the whole thing.” She said. He smiled in relief.

“Thank you.” He replied. Flower Kid gave them both a thumbs up. “Now, let’s get you sorted out. You’ve got shoes too, and I’m willing to bet from your pretty comfortable clothes that you don’t own tights.” Kamal blushed but nodded. Tight clothes, right, that was part of dance. Had to be able to see the form and all.

* * *

Well, the tights were certainly something to get used to. The shoes were comfortable, if a little weird since they didn’t have souls. And the shirt was just sort of a normal tank top. As a matter of fact Nina (or Ms. Gatley to the kids she was teaching) had said he could bring in any shirt that was on the tight side, and wouldn’t make him sweat too much. He looked himself over in the mirror they had in the bathroom he’d used to change and found he actually rather liked the way he looked. Kamal took a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom. Flower Kid was waiting outside and flashed him a huge grin and a thumbs up.

“Thanks kid. I think your class is about to start, why don’t you get going.” A small group of kids were making their way down the hallway, all of them wearing tap shoes. Flower Kid gave Kamal one last squeeze before following them. A second later Nina went after them all, and she gave Kamal a thumbs up too when she saw him. He grinned and was about to make his way to the sitting area when he heard a different voice.

“Adult beginners ballet meet me in room one in five minutes!” It called. He nodded to himself and found room one pretty easily. It was the first room off the main hallway after all. He sort of stood awkwardly in there for a while before some other people started coming in. He wasn’t surprised to find it was mostly middle aged women, with a few younger ones as well. They all sort of milled around the room, a few people talking to each other. A few minutes later an older woman came in, presumably the teacher. “Alright ladies!” And here she paused, looking Kamal up and down. He gulped and offered a small, uncertain smile. But she just grinned at him. “And gentleman. I’m Amy Tanzen, and I’ll be your instructor. Before we do anything else, we’ll need a warm up. So! I’ll be showing you some basic stretches, and we can go from there.”

Kamal had never considered himself a flexible person, but it wasn’t like he was stiff as a board either. Some of the stretches were generic things, lifting your foot up to your waist, bending your back like you were cracking it, touching your toes, stuff like that. There were some more interesting ones though, plenty on the floor. Sitting with the souls of your feet pressed together and bending over them, sitting with your legs straight out in front of you and bending over them, sitting with legs spread and leaning to either side. And, terrifyingly, splits. Luckily most of them seemed scared of that, and Amy didn’t force them too. A couple brave souls did give it a shot, and Kamal gave them some mental applause. 

Next came barre work. They learned the five basic positions and Kamal found them slightly uncomfortable despite just being different ways to stand. Turning his feet out was odd, but something he’d apparently have to learn to get used to. They practiced pointing their feet without sickling them. Pliés were easy, just bending knees in a certain way, although grande ones were a bit more of a stretch. Rounde de Jambes were also pretty easy, as long as he didn’t attempt to put weight on the foot he was moving around his stance. Tondes tripped him up a little, having to move the foot from the position right back it perfectly was difficult. 

Amy demonstrated a couple variations of arabesques, and they tried them as well. Kamal was pleasantly surprised to find that he still had a fair bit of balance, and managed to hold arabesques well even without the barre. She also demonstrated pirouettes, although she didn’t let them try that, saying they were more advanced. The lesson flew by, and they ended with a couple more stretches. Kamal was tired and sweaty, but he felt happy and fulfilled in a way that he hadn’t in a very long time.

“You all did wonderful today!” Amy said at the end of the hour. “I’m thrilled to be able to continue to teach you all, and I’m very excited to see you all next week.” They all mumbled their thanks and Amy grinned at them. She caught Kamal’s elbow right before he left and he sort of jerked to a stop. “You in particular were wonderful dear.” He blushed and stammered for a moment before she cut him off. “It’s obvious you aren’t advanced, but you sure are for a beginner. Did you take this class as a refresher?”

“No ma’am-”

“Please, just call me Amy. Even the kids do.” She said.

“Alright. Well, no Amy, I’ve never danced before. I’ve just...always wanted too. Since I was six.” He replied. 

“Why didn’t you take classes for it sooner? You’ve got the frame for a dancer, although I don’t know how good you’d be at lifts.” She chuckled and he couldn’t help returning it. 

“My dad wasn’t thrilled with the idea. And I’d completely forgotten about it until my kid found one of your flyers.” He said. Amy perked up at that.

“I’m sorry your family wasn’t the most supportive but I really do hope you come back next week. And several weeks after that too. You’ve got a natural talent for this Kamal, I’d love to see more of you.” She said. Kamal was blushing and grinning up a storm. “Now go on, I’m sure your kid is waiting for you.” He nodded and headed out for the sitting area. 

Flower Kid was sitting in one of the chairs, kicking their legs back and forth. They noticed him and rushed over, clearly excited. They began signing quickly and Kamal laughed.

“Slow down kid, I can’t understand you.” He said. They nodded and slowed down.

“Class was wonderful! I met this nice girl named Bailey and she wants to play together some time. But dancing was wonderful! I got to move as much as I wanted and to make lots of loud noises! The sound is so nice, and even though the shoes are stiff, I think they’re my new favorite shoes ever.” They signed excitedly. Kamal just grinned down at them.

“That’s great! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, cuz we’re definitely coming back next week.” He said. Flower Kid grinned.

“So your class went well?” They signed before taking his hand.

“It was everything I’ve ever hoped for.”

**Author's Note:**

> https://fern-sword.tumblr.com/post/186482062714/my-brain-just-repeatedly-chanting-ballet-kamal
> 
> https://fern-sword.tumblr.com/post/186531136984/doodled-some-more-dancer-kamal-this-ones-for-you
> 
> My tumblr is the one tagged in the second post so come say hi sometime! I'd love to talk about Smile For Me with people!


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